I just started as a pirate. I went to an Independent colony, found it held by a different Pirate faction, destroyed their ships, and raided the colony. There where many independent freighters in orbit that I just let go.

I then thought about it. Should I have attempted to capture the enemy pirate ships? But then it might be a harder fight, and even if I win, it would leave my boarding pods depleted. That means I would have to wait to raid the planet, and if an enemy pirate shows up they can easily board and capture my ships.

Okay, say I destroy the enemy pirates and not attempt capture. There are then all those independent freighters. I could capture those. But again, I was worried about depleting my boarding pods. Again, leaving my ships vunerable to capture, and leaving me with nothing to raid with until my depleted pods regen.

What would the best strategy when taking two Destroyers and two Frigates to an Independent colony with say, one enemy pirate Frigate and two Escorts, plus independent freighters?

Destroy all the pirate ships unless you know they have superior tech, then raid the planet and wait a bit till they regenerate and start capturing all the freighters. As I pirate in the firs ten years I usually have 100+ captured ships because I steal all the independent freighters ;0).